Standing up for free speech

In response to the Sept. 8 article, “Whitman instructor threatens lawsuit against McMorris Rodgers over response to Facebook posts”:

Imagine this: A police officer comes to your work and tells your boss that you’re mentally ill. After this moment, your future will never look the same. You might get fired. You might not be able to get another job. Your reputation might be ruined - all because of hearsay and rumor.

As you may have read in Friday’s paper, something like this happened to me. As a result of my advocacy, the U.S. Capitol Police contacted my employer and suggested I was mentally ill. Special Agent David M. Millard of the Capitol Police wrote, “A report was made to my office from a U.S. Congressional office that Mr. Devon Wooten… may be suffering from an unknown mental illness.”

This slander didn’t come from the U.S. Capitol Police. This sham diagnosis came directly from the office of Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers.

Call this what you want - government overreach, criminalization of dissent, plain old intimidation - but it should concern every one of us. When an elected official uses her authority to harass a constituent - it doesn’t matter whether you’re a republican, democrat, or independent - you should be angry. Because next time it could be you.

Devon Wootten

Walla Walla